Could snow make for the perfect story starter?
We finally got a wee sprinkling of the white stuff today. There has been a lot to the south of us, causing traffic mayhem. Dundee, though, seems to get a lot of protection from the river – the Tay, on whose banks the city sits – and rarely gets anything worth wearing wellies for.
So, I got out for my usual lunchtime walk along to the park, and something about this scene spoke to me. It’s the triple tyre track. It’s probably from one of those funky chunky three-wheeled buggies.
But it made me think of things going in threes, or working in tandem – though is tandem only two? Where’s my dictionary…?
Oh, yes, I still keep a dictionary on my desk, even with keyboard and the world wide web at my fingertips. There’s nothing quite like thumbing through my Chambers. And you’ll know that feeling: looking up one word and being distracted by another, and another… It catches me out every time, so that my Chambers is very well thumbed. It’s a paperback edition and so well used that the cover has worn away in places. I’ve had it almost since I started my career, and that wasn’t today nor yesterday!
Going in Threes!
Anyway, where was I? Oh, yes: tandem. Or triplets. Or threes. Or tracks. Or togetherness. I seem to be stuck in one of those tracks myself with all these T words!
I’m kind of breaking my own guidelines here. I always advise you to think six months in advance when you’re sending stories, to allow the team here reading time and all the rest of it. But here I am, mid-winter, offering you a snowy pic which suggests… mid-winter.
Although, it doesn’t have to, does it? That’s how this works, after all. The pic sets your thoughts a-wandering, so that rather than following an obvious path like the one in the picture, your imagination takes flight – and who knows where it might lead?
Make sure you keep up to date with Shirley’s weekly story starters by signing up to our newsletter! Not feeling inspired yet? Click here to try last week’s story starter for more inspiration.
Shirley Blair Fiction Ed Shirley’s been with the “Friend” since 2007 and calls it her dream job because she gets to read fiction all day every day. Hobbies? Well, that would be reading! She also enjoys writing fiction when she has time, long walks, travel, and watching Scandi thrillers on TV.
